Future Hearts
by Yukiko-chan
Summary: In a time slightly seperate from the timelines known by most, a mismatched group of teens are pulled into a place known as the Digital World. The land seems peaceful...so why are they there, and how can they return home? A trio of friends set out to find
1. Meeting up

Part One: Electronic Light  
  
Chapter One: Meeting Up  
  
It was the first day of the school year, and Cameron Lucian marveled as he walked down the street. * For once, I'm actually on time to school instead of late as usual! I guess Mom really was serious when she said there was no way I was going to be late today. * He stuck his hands inside his jacket pockets and continued on, eventually breaking into a light jog. He was about two blocks away from the school when he saw a figure with short black hair and glasses that stood across the street from him. With a wave, the boy called over to Cameron, speaking familiarly. "Cam! How's it goin'?"  
  
"Hey, Nate!" Cameron crossed the street, and when he got there, he and the other boy began to exchange stories of their summers. "I've been cool. The vacation was fun, though I think my folks could have let me stay home. I'm in no rush to be back in school!" Both boys laughed at this as they began walking again. "What about you? Hacked any networks lately?" Cameron asked as he grinned at Nathan, who usually went by Nate.  
  
"Ha hah, very funny," Nathan replied. "You know as well as I do that I only hack into the school system when you're failing a class so I can fix your report card!" The look of wicked mischief that was in his gray eyes shone as they both laughed again. "Really, though, I've been pretty good. Not a lot went on this summer, except for my parents trying to get me to take those extra classes I told you about."  
  
Cameron shook his head. "Man, am I glad my parents aren't like that! I have enough school during the school year. Your folks are never gonna give up on that, are they?"  
  
"Not in my lifetime," Nathan answered with a shrug. "They're determined to get me to be high school valedictorian. I keep reminding them that I'm only in the eighth grade, but I don't think they really get it yet." Then he pointed up ahead. "Speaking of school, look where we are." Both looked ahead to see the tan bricks of their school in view down the street.  
  
"We're not on school grounds yet, right?" Cameron asked.  
  
"Nope, not as far as I know." Then Nathan looked over at the other boy. "Oh, no. What are you planning this time, Cam?"  
  
"Nothing!" The next thing Nathan knew, his friend was running down the street, headed right for the building. Though he was annoyed, he couldn't help but laugh. That was the typical Cameron that he knew, he thought as he began to run as well. Of course, he also knew he wouldn't win, but it was the race that counted, not the outcome.  
  
Having slowed down to a walk again, the two boys entered the school, which was full of other students between the sixth and eight grades that were all milling the hallways. People caught up with friends, found their classes, and relearned their locker combinations during those ten minutes before school began in earnest.   
  
Cameron worked busily at the latter time consuming exercise, getting nowhere except for aggravated. "Grrr!" he said below his breath as he yanked on his lock. With a frown, he tried the numbers, pulled on the lock, and had it stay closed for about the millionth time that morning. As he began to start over, a laugh sounded from just behind him. He turned around, about to say something that his mom would call "smart". Instead, he stopped as he saw who had laughed.   
  
A girl wearing jeans and a T-shirt, her wavy ponytail of black hair visible, stood leaning against the locker next to his. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as she smiled. "You just don't have a good relationship with lockers, do you, Cam?" she said playfully. She then pushed him out of the way, entered the numbers to his lock, and popped it open. "There you go!" While he rummaged around in his locker and stuffed his jacket inside, she stood there, whistling as she watched him.  
  
Eventually, aware of her eyes on him, Cameron turned his head and looked at her. "Thanks, Marissa," he said at last.  
  
The girl laughed brightly. "No problem-o, Cam. I'm used to doing this for you by now."  
  
"I can see that," he noted, "since you know my combination. Just don't get a big head because you bailed me out again, all right?"   
  
She simply smiled and did not comment. Then, as if she had just thought of it, she asked, "So, how did your summer treat you?" So that school year began with Cameron telling his friend Marissa about his summer, and hearing the various stories she had to tell. "Well," she said a little later, "I've gotta go to my class now, or I'll be late like you always are!" She laughed again at the look on his face. "See ya!" With that, she hurried off down the hall, leaving Cameron to make his way to his first class of the day. 


	2. A minor malfunction

Chapter Two: A Minor Malfunction  
  
Once school ended, Cameron dropped his books in his locker, grabbed his jacket, and got ready to go home. As he had half-expected, Marissa caught up to him before he left. "Darn! I was hoping I'd catch you at your locker again," she said from behind him.  
  
He answered her as he turned. "Well, that goes to show you that you don't know everything like you think, huh?"  
  
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong! I see all and know all... except for where Nate is."  
  
"I don't know for sure," he said in return, "but I have an idea of where we can look, if you need to find him."  
  
She paused for a moment and then said, "No, I didn't really need to find him, I just wanted to see him. The three of us haven't seen each other that much since the beginning of summer vacation, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, you're right."  
  
"You don't think he's gone home already?"  
  
"No, he's probably here still."   
  
They pushed against the streams of students that hurried past them, headed for the nearest stairwell, and went up the stairs until they reached the third floor of the school, and started down one of the hallways. As they walked along, the school began to seem very quiet. With most of the students gone from this floor and no teachers in sight, things appeared very empty. That was why, when there was a loud sound near the end of the hallway, it caught their attention. Without question, they ran down to where the noise had come from.  
  
As they stepped into the open doorway of the upstairs computer lab, the noise grew louder. "Nate, you in here?" Cameron called out as he and Marissa looked around. A bright light came from behind a door at the back of the room, so they headed that way. At the door, they stopped. It was ajar, so Cameron shouted through the small opening. "Nate, are you around here or what?"  
  
A second later, Nathan stuck his head out of the door. The light flooded out to spill on the floor of the main computer lab. "Hey, 'Rissa! Long time no see!" He came out of the room then and stood by the door.  
  
"Nice to see you again, Nate," Marissa said. "What's up?"  
  
"See for yourselves! Come on, I'll show you." His face animated and excited, Nathan led his two friends into the room. "I have no idea how this happened, actually. I was messing around on one of the computers since my last class is just down the hall." Cameron shot Marissa an 'I told you so' look as Nathan continued. "Anyway, I was in here looking at some of the new things the school had installed over the summer, and I found this really strange program that I'd never heard of before. When I booted it up, this is what happened." He gestured at a single monitor; surprisingly enough, it was causing all the light by itself.  
  
"Isn't there some way to turn down that light?" Cameron asked. He looked over at the monitor and covered his eyes partially with his hand as he did so.  
  
"I tried that," Nathan replied, "and it doesn't work."  
  
"Can't we just turn it off?" asked Marissa, her eyes half opened.  
  
"What, the computer?"   
  
As Cameron spoke, she went over to the monitor and reached out to hit the switch. "Where's the off button?" she muttered. Her hand bumped into the top of the monitor, the sides, and the table – everywhere but where the actual switch was.  
  
"The switch is on the front," Nathan noted.  
  
"I know that," Marissa retorted. "It's just that my eyes are shut, so I can't see it!" Just then, her hand hit the actual screen. "Okay, I've got it now." Her fingers moved down the screen until they reached the bottom edge. Abruptly, the light disappeared. "See, I told you I got it," she said with a more cheerful tone in her voice.  
  
Able to see again, the three of them stood in the room, silent for a moment as their eyes adjusted to regular light again. As they stood there, however, something flickered at the edge of Cameron's sight. He turned his head to look, but saw nothing. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, frowning slightly. A moment later, the same thing repeated, and he looked again. There was still nothing there.  
  
Nathan, who had noticed, asked, "What's up, Cam?"  
  
With a shrug, Cameron replied, "I could have sworn that I saw something a second ago."  
  
"Well, there's nothing in here but us and the computers," Nathan commented.  
  
"Hey! What's this?" Marissa interrupted.   
  
They all looked down to see three objects sitting on the floor by their feet... 


	3. Testing

Chapter Three: Testing  
  
"Weird...these weren't here before," Nathan said as he crouched down and picked them up. He straightened up and then held the items flat on his hands so the others could see. "I've never seen anything like this before. I wonder what they do?"  
  
"They look kind of like toys to me," Cameron said. Then he took one out of Nathan's hands to get a better look at it. It was a small rectangular gadget that looked to be made out of plastic. There were several buttons on the front, and the whole thing was white except for what felt like handgrips on each side colored in red. He looked at the one – because now Marissa held one too – that Nathan had in his hand, and saw that the grips were dark gray on his. What looked like a screen was placed in the middle, but at the moment it was blank. A small antenna jutted out from one side of the item. It looked to be pocket sized overall, and was fairly lightweight. Aloud, he said, "You guys have any idea of what these things do yet?"  
  
"Not me," Nathan said.  
  
"Hey, maybe they're one of those portable video games!" Marissa suggested brightly.  
  
"I thought of that too, but I don't see anywhere to put a game, not even a CD," Cameron noted. "So how could you play anything on it?"  
  
"My thoughts exactly," said Nathan. "So, what else could it be?"  
  
"Why don't we try making the screens come on? Then it'll probably give us a clue."  
  
Marissa's idea was as good as any, so they tried it. They pressed variations of buttons, tried touching the screen, looked for a power switch, and even shook them, but to no avail. "What are these things supposed to do, then?" Marissa demanded, rather frustrated by now.  
  
"I haven't a clue," Nathan replied. He turned the object in his hand and randomly pressed the buttons. All of a sudden, his screen flared to life. "Hey!" he said in surprise. Cameron and Marissa looked over at him and then crowded around to see what had happened. "Well, whatever I did, it worked!" he said, pleased.  
  
"What'd you do?" Cameron asked.  
  
"I just turned it like this, and pressed the buttons." Nathan demonstrated. The other two followed suit, but with no success. "Why don't you try it standing where I was?"  
  
"Might as well," Cameron said. Nathan moved, and Cameron stood where he did and pressed the buttons. Everyone jumped as his screen came to life as well. "All right!" he said, interested again. "Now let's see what this thing will do!"  
  
"Hey, wait! I want to get mine on too," Marissa added. As she went to move into Nathan's spot and Cameron stepped out of the way, her object slid in her hand. She quickly grabbed at it, and Cameron noticed that it had blue grips, even as it lit up. "Mine wasn't facing the same spot as yours, but it still came on. I guess I hit the buttons when I caught it..."  
  
Nathan looked thoughtful. "Then it must be something besides where it's pointed." He looked around the room, trying to get an idea of what could cause the items to work. Then it hit him, and his eyes lit up almost as bright as the screens. "The computers!"  
  
"Huh?" said Cameron and Marissa in unison.  
  
"It's the computers!" he repeated. "It's not the spot at all. I had my antenna pointing towards the computer when I pushed the buttons on my device, and it turned on. When yours turned on, 'Rissa, you had rotated it in your hand, so it faced the other way. But there are computers all behind us, too. That must be what does it!"  
  
"If you say so, Nathan, I believe you," Marissa replied. Then she happened to look up at the clock. "Oh man!" she exclaimed all of a sudden.  
  
"What's up?" Cameron replied.  
  
"I have to be home in five minutes! I gotta go right now!" She practically ran out of the room as she said, "I'll talk to you guys later. See you at lunch tomorrow or something, right? Bye!" With that, she hurried out of the door and was gone.  
  
Cameron laughed. "And she talks about me being late all the time!"  
  
Nathan grinned. "Yeah, tell me about it. Anyways, I'd better get going too. My folks will think I had to stay after with a teacher again for a lecture about 'working up to the best of my ability' and all that kind of stuff."  
  
"All right, then," Cameron said. "See ya tomorrow."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Just before Cameron left, he happened to look around the room. *I wonder what it was that made the monitor act like that... And where'd those other things go?* He looked around again, but he was alone in the room. *I guess 'Rissa and Nate took the other ones with them. Hey, we found them, so we can keep them, right?* With no one around to answer his question, he put the item in his pocket, turned, and left the room.  
  
It was later on, after he had been home for a few hours, before Cameron remembered the object he had found. The reason it came to mind was that his attention had been caught by something in his jeans. Whatever it was, it was poking him in his leg, and it had become very annoying. He paused his game of Dragon Knight and reached in his pocket to remove the offending thing. When he saw what it was, however, instead of tossing it across the room as he did with other things that interrupted his gaming, he put it down on the bed next to him. * I'll look at it later, * he told himself.  
  
Several hours later, he happened to hear a strange beeping coming from somewhere in his room. * Did I leave the cordless off the hook again? * He stood up and began to look around for it: under the bed, beneath the pillows, on the floor under his dirty clothes – until he realized that the phone had been on the charger all day, so the batteries couldn't be low. With a frown, he sat back down and resumed scanning over his reading assignment. The beeping continued, driving him slowly crazy, until he finally jumped back up and looked around again. Finally, his eyes saw it – the strange little object with the red sides, its screen glowing and a soft but high pitched beeping coming from it.  
  
He snatched it up and looked closely at the screen. He blinked, rubbed it off with his shirt, and then looked a second time. Although it hadn't been there before – since it hadn't been on before, at that – he had to figure that there was some reason for him to see text appearing across the screen...well, besides the possibility that he was hallucinating, that is. "Umm..." Carefully, he began reading the words aloud as they materialized.  
  
"Hey, this is Nathan, just so you know. I just figured out something that these things do. Earlier, I was messing around with this thing when a little tiny pen fell out of it. It looked rather like a light pen. Well, guess what? When I write on the screen, it puts the words up – kind of like a Palm Pilot, you know? Anyway, while I was trying that out, I saw a flashing icon, so I touched it with the pen. It's the one shaped like these things we found, only the antenna has curved sound wave lines coming from it. I got the idea that maybe this is a communications device. But is it doing anything? If anything does happen, push the icon and write something so I know!"  
  
Intrigued, Cameron looked all around for the little pen that Nathan had mentioned in his message. With quite a bit of trial and error, he found it, partially because he dropped it on the floor and the pen popped out. Ignoring the fact that he hadn't really dropped it accidentally, he picked up both things and began writing. "Nate! This is Cameron. How'd you figure out that writing on this thing works? Oh yeah, and you'll know I wrote you, because these things beep like crazy when you do. Talk to ya later."  
  
A second or two later, the thing resumed beeping, so he looked around for something to stop it. After pressing a few icons on the screen and the buttons on the sides, he realized that pushing the icon Nathan mentioned let him see if there was anything for him to read. Instead of it being Nathan like he expected, however, the new message read like this. "Cam, Nate, this is so cool! Can you imagine how useful something like this could be on test days? :) I wonder what else these things can do? You know, we should experiment with them sometime. Let's make a date for next week! ...Well, not a date-date, but you guys know what I mean!"  
  
For the rest of the night, the three of them sent notes back and forth like that, talking to each other as they bounced ideas around of what the full functions of the items they had found really had. They finally agreed to Marissa's idea of meeting up after school to tinker with the objects – now that they knew how to turn them on and they knew the things did something, of course. 


	4. Lunch and a plan?

Chapter Four: Lunch! ...and a plan?  
  
On the day that the friends had decided to meet, Cameron was running late...again. While he walked down the street, messages appeared on his screen about once every minute or so. Marissa had gotten used to sending messages by writing on the screen, and she often used it to bug him about being late to things. Now it she was timing how long it took for him to get to the meeting.   
  
"CAMERON! You are officially... 31 minutes and 2 seconds late, counting by when I got here, and Nathan was here before I was! You are slow, slow, slow! How you make it to school on time I'll never understand. But Nate tells me not to worry - we should just eat all the food without you."  
  
Here Cameron had to stop walking in order to write. "What food?"  
  
A new message appeared that read, "Hey, this is Nathan. My mom heard that I was supposed to be meeting some friends today, and since I told her we were going to be studying, she made us a huge lunch in a basket and all. Since she didn't ask what we were studying, I tried to tell her, but she didn't listen and gave it to me anyway. I'm not complaining, though."  
  
"Yeah, please don't complain, Nate, and ask your mom to do this again sometimes!" Marissa's handwriting appeared again. "As for you, slow Cam, I'm going to open this basket and chow down unless you're here in three minutes!"  
  
When Cameron arrived, it had been more than three minutes, of course, mostly because he had been trying to find Nathan and Marissa in the expanse of the city park. He rounded a corner, still searching, only to see two people that waved at him. He made his way over to them, and once in hearing distance, he said, "Hey, you guys. I know I'm late, but my mom needed me to watch Angelina..." His eyes flickered over to the basket as he remembered Marissa's threat.   
  
She noticed his look and laughed. "I know I said I was going to eat without you, but since you were helping your mom, I decided that I didn't mind you being late so much that I would deprive you of your share in lunch." Cameron raised an eyebrow, but she just smiled. He glanced over at Nathan, who shrugged. "Come on, now that you're here, we can start eating!" she added.   
  
About fifteen minutes later, the trio was still in the process of having lunch. They chatted about what their classes were like, what teachers were great and which ones were terrible, and just enjoyed having hours of free time for hanging out. At one point, Nathan picked the three objects up and started comparing them. "I wonder what makes them work...could they be cell phones and Palm Pilots combined, back from when the technologies were less portable?"  
  
"There's no telling," Marissa said as she snagged her item by the antenna. "However they work, I like them. I hope whoever lost them isn't looking for them, because I don't think I'd want to give mine back. I mean, I would if they meant a lot to the person and they asked me..."  
  
"I might think twice about doing that even if someone asked. I mean, they appeared out of nowhere in the computer lab. We were the only ones there, and they weren't on the floor before then, so it must be all right for us to have them until someone claims them," Cameron said.  
  
"As for me, I just want to know what it does without having to take it apart!" Nathan said emphatically. All three of them laughed at that statement. "Speaking of which, have you guys tried pressing any other buttons yet?"  
  
"I have," Cameron replied, "but it doesn't do anything."  
  
"Same here," Marissa added.  
  
"Well, I had an idea. Now that we know how these things work, why don't we try using them with the computers at school? That's how we got them to turn on before, after all."  
  
Cameron nodded. "That's a good idea, Nate, but for one thing: how are we supposed to get in school on a Saturday?"  
  
"There's some kind of event there today," Nathan pointed out. "We can get in, because the doors will all be unlocked."  
  
Marissa gave Nathan a look. "You planned this, didn't you?"  
  
"Well, yes," Nathan admitted. "But you have to admit, it's a good plan!" The other two mumbled something. "Oh, come on guys! We don't have to go if you don't want to, but I think it would make for good research."  
  
After a moment, Marissa stood up. "Okay with me! This way I can play Tatiri without having to worry about teachers telling me to delete it from the computer!"  
  
Cameron said, "All right, I'm coming too." Then he looked over at Marissa, blinked, and asked her, "What exactly is Tatiri, anyway?"  
  
Marissa gasped as if she had never heard such a thing. "Cam, you don't about Tatiri? Well, I'll just have to show you when we get to school! It's a really fun game, you'll love it, I promise. And no matter what anyone tells you, it's not addictive!" The three gathered up their belongings and set off towards the school, still carrying the basket, Marissa talking about the wonders of online games as they walked. 


End file.
